Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman

8/3/2019 Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman

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Pages of Interest in the Book "Misquoting jesus" by Bart Ehrman

Pages: 23, 30-31, 33, 37-42, 44, 48-49, 58, 64, 81-82, 113-4, 158, 159, 161, 162-4, 166,

167, 175, 181-5, 188-9, 191-3, 196, 209, 211, 216-7, 224-9, 247-60, 265-6

Misquoting Jesus: Bart D. Ehrman. April 25, 2007. Stanford. textual critic of the Bible.

"Misquoting Jesus: Scribes Who Altered Scripture and Readers Who MayNever Know," a textual criticism of Biblical manuscript tampering by BartEhrman, Professor or Religious Studies of the University of North Carolina atChapel Hill.

Video lecture in 10 parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cK3Ry_icJo

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NT: translations of thousands of copies of original Greek manuscripts made centuries

later.

God-inspired, but not God-preserved?

GOSPELS: written in 1st cent ad. mark in rome? 90% of population was illiterate in roman

empire, couldn't read or write.

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no copy of Mark until 200ad, 150 yrs after mark was written.

all 27 books of NT experience the same fate. more copies of nt than any other book.

over 5,700 copies of nt in Greek. not all are complete. other languages. 10,000 in latin.

etc. no two copies are exactly alike in wording. oldest copy from egypt, size of credit

card on both size, from book, p52, from John 18. pontius pilate, what is truth? dated to

first half of second century. 125ad +/- 50 yrs, 30-40 yrs after john written. complete john

in 200ad.

full manuscripts at beginning of 3rd century, around 200ad 170 after jesus death, 120

yrs after books written. numerous manuscripts: 7, 8, or 9th centuries.

differences in manuscripts: not a major issue until 1707. john mill at Oxford.

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mill spent 30 yrs looking at bible manuscripts. 100 manuscripts available to him. made

Greek new testament. 30,000 places where manuscripts differed significantly. nobody

knows how many differences there are, even with modern computer technology.


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100,000 to 400,000? more differences in manuscripts than words in NT. most are

insignificant. paraplepsis and homoateluton.

biggest mistake, 109. 10th c manuscript of luke. geneology, also in matthew. copied

across the columns.

intentional mistakes: mark 1, written in isaiah. not quoting isaiah, but exodus. later

manuscripts leave out "Isaiah", only say "the prophets"

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in luke 2, only story of jesus as a boy. jesus lost, on 3rd day found. discussing law with

rabbis. "your father and i have been looking for you", changed to "joseph and i"

matt 24:36, end of time. nc 1988 christians thought end of world rapture. parable of fig

tree. israel ~ fig tree. put forth leaves, comes back to life 1948. generation = 40 years.

rosh hashana in sept. not even the son knows the hour. phrase taken out in later

manuscripts. (FABRICATION)

jesus and woman adultery. (this passage is only found in john ch. 7 and 8.) the law of Moses says

stone her. FABRICATION. added to john by later scribes, not in any of early or best

mscrpts. Greek commentators don't mention story until 10th century. writing style is

different. scholars have known for years that it doesnt belong in john.

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maybe written in the margins by a scribe, picked up and added to text into KJV in 1611.not originally in NT. significant change in NT.

2nd major change. Mark. favorite gospel. subtle and understated, says things you dont

expect. women go to tomb which is empty. man tells women jesus is gone, will meet you

in Galilee. women fled and said nothing out of fear. end of gospel of Mark. scribes added

12 verses to mark 16:8. (fabrication) footnotes will tell you they are added by later scribes.

not in earliest and best manuscript, different writing styles. jesus says "make disciples of

all nations deadly snakes and drinking poison."

MARK 1, jesus heals leper. jesus felt compassion for the man. other manuscripts saythat Jesus got angry healed the man. (fabrication?)

luke. crucifixion scene. luke is interesting, unlike what happens in Mark's gospel (first?).

most people read gospels top to bottom, and miss the differences. to see differences,

read horizontally and compare the stories. who goes to tomb? just mary or other

women? stone rolled away? man mark? two men luke? angel matthew? do they tell the

disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee or stay in Jerusalem? do they tell disciples? Mark or


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Matthew and Luke?

crucifixion in Mark and Luke.

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in Mark, crucifixion is a very gripping scene. jesus is completely silent. mocked by

everyone and the two criminals. eli lama sabachtani.

seven last words of Jesus not found in any of the gospels, but made by smashing up all

four.

luke: Jesus is not silent. daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me weep for

yourselves. father forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. two robbers, one

criticizes, one has faith. today you will be with me in paradise. father, into your hands i

commend my spirit. prayer of forgiveness to the jews, not the romans in interpretations

of early christian interpretors. this prayer is omitted in some early manuscripts

(fabrication?). scribes didn't think God forgave Jews. Jews are guilty of Killing Christ.

destruction of Jerusalem in 70ad was punishment to Jews for rejecting messiah. in 2

and 3rd century, Christians said Jesus was God and Jews were guilty of deicide.

some changes in manuscripts by scribes are theological, relationships with Jews,

women and leadership roles. 2 and 3rd centuries when women's roles were being

suppressed.

textual critic: figures out what an author actually wrote and why the text got changed. ideological

and historical context.

end of lecture.

Q&A session begins

abortion, war, and gay rights and the Biblical changes?

not really, not of concern in those times.

have u read the book of Eurantia?

no.

gospel of Judas Iscariot? sword of Constantine?

coptologist. paleographer. carbon-14 dating, need a scientist.

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manuscript in Geneva. Judas is most recent discovery of an early christian text,


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discovered in 1978. in a thousand fragments. unknown until about 2003 when it got into

competent scholars and conservationists. Gnostic gospel. this world is not the creation

of the one true God, but the creation of lower divinities. the point of salvation is to

escape this world. Gnostics felt imprisoned in bodies. Gnostics thought they needed to

escape this world by having secret knowledge, which is provided by the Gnostic

gospels. most important discovery of a Christian book in the last 60 years.

Sword of Constantine by James Carroll

about Jewish-Christian relations when emperor Constantine became a Christian.

Marcian and is 1st Clement a 1st century witness to the text of 1st Corinthians?

(doctoral exam q)

Marcian was most important Christian thinker of 2nd century. teacher-philosopher from

asia minor.

Paul thought salvation wasn't through Law, but faith in Christ. Marcian taught that Godof Law wasn't same God of Gospel, but there were two different Gods. God of Jews

created this world and gave Jews the Law. Jesus came to save people from the wrathful

God of the Jews. popular during his time, got lots of converts. Marcian Christian Bible

didn't have old testament, only gospel of Luke and ten letters of Paul.

1st clement is from apostolic fathers, written in mid 90's ad (before some nt books) to

the church in corinth by the chrisitans in rome. ecclesiastical coup in corinth. leaders of

church kicked out, romans didnt like it and tried to get the church to reverse the coup.

author knows about paul's letter 1st corinthians which was written about 30 years

earlier. no help with text of 1st corinthians.

with exception of Matt 24 "not even the son knows" are there verses that threaten

fundamental christian doctrine. canon and textual problems discussed at nicaea?

formation of canon and text was not discussed at Nicaea at all.

Da Vinci Code DAN BROWN was absolutely wrong about Council of Nicaeea. claims

there was a close vote on the divinity of Jesus. Constantine had no role to play in the

formation of canon and choice of books.

scribes changed passages to emphasize jesus was divine. others changed to emphasize that he

was human. wanted to emphasize both. DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY IS NOT EXPLICITLY TAUGHTIN ANY PASSAGE OF THE BIBLE. THE IDEA THAT THERE ARE THREE GODS (OOPS) THE

DOCTRINE THAT THERE'S ONE GOD MANIFEST IN THREE PERSONS. THESE THREE PERSONS

ARE EACH INDIVIDUALLY COMPLETELY GOD, BUT THERE'S ONLY ONE GOD. NOT THREE GODS,

BUT ONE GOD. BUT NOT ONE PERSON, THREE PERSONS. THIS IS NOT TAUGHT IN ANY

PASSAGE OF BIBLE EXCEPT 1 JOHN 5:7-8. THREE WITNESSES IN HEAVEN, THE FATHER, THE

SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THESES THREE ARE ONE.


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THIS IS NOT IN THE GREEK MANUSCRIPTS OF 1 JOHN, IT'S IN THE LATIN MANUSCRIPTS OF 1

JOHN. FABRICATION. THE FIRST SCHOLAR TO PUT TOGETHER A PRINTED GREEK NT WAS THEHUMANIST NAMED ERASMUS IN 1516. FIRST TIME A PRINTED EDITION OF GREEK NT. DIDN'T

INCLUDE THE VERSE. LATIN THEOLOGIANS GOT MAD. HE SAID IT'S NOT IN GREEK

MANUSCRIPT, IF YOU CAN PRODUCE ONE, I'LL INCLUDE IT IN MY NEXT EDITION. THE LATIN

THEOLOGIANS "PRODUCED" (FABRICATED) A GREEK MANUSCRIPT. THEY TRANSLATED THE

LATIN BACK INTO GREEK. THAT EDITION WAS USED TO CONVERT THE KJV INTO ENGLISH.

Aristotelian logic: omission isn't necessarily contradiction. Stanford philosophy website,

two statements that cannot both be true at the same time regarding the same situation.

contradictions?

book called the Life of Christ in Stereo. Mark: Jesus tells Peter before the cock crows

twice you'll deny me three times. Matthew: before the cock crows.

flat-out contradictions. what day did Jesus die on? Mark 14:12. passover meal with disciples. after

meal Jesus is arrested spends the night in jail, Pilate kills him the morning after passover meal is

eaten. John: has meal (not called passover) and is crucified just after noon on the day of

Preparation of the Passover (the day before passover).

most academics don't know how to talk to a normal human being. evangelical scholars got

upset: THIS ISN'T NEWS, WE'VE KNOWN ABOUT THIS FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. SCHOLARS

HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS SINCE JOHN MILL IN 1707, BUT NOBODY'S BOTHERED TO TELL A

GENERAL AUDIENCE. THE REASON IS OBVIOUS: BECAUSE IT'S HARD. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT

GREEK MANUSCRIPTS TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T READ GREEK.

i've been reading Bible for last 5 years, especially NT. Jesus said I've come not to

change Torah but to fulfill it. the only way to go to heaven is to follow Torah more than

rabbis.

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Torah: no mention of son, father, and holy ghost. why didn't prophets of OT mention.

matthew 5:17 is distinctive to Matthew, emphasizes that Jesus' followers need to follow

the Torah. Apostle Paul says the opposite. he says that a person can't be right with God by

following the Torah (fabrication), but in Matthew Jesus says that his followers have to follow the

Torah.Question about the fact that the Torah doesn't mention father, son, and holy spirit has been a

problem of theologians for centuries. they had to deal with that when they were developing the


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doctrine of the Trinity. they came up with solutions to that which by modern standards would be

seen as creative (fabrication). when God says "let Us create man in Our own image" who's

He talking to?

relationship between the changes in the manuscripts and decisions of canon?

that issue didn't come up. choice of canon due to changes. if woman taken in adultery

isn't in oldest manuscripts, but is in most of manuscripts from middle ages, is it part of

the Bible or not? last 12 verses of Mark? not a question for a historian, but a theologian.

Ehrman is surprised that theologians show no interest or knowledge in textual criticism at all, most

of them.

discrepancies among the gospels? embarrassing?

tayshen. produced a life of christ in stereo for syriac-reading Christians in the 2ndcentury. put the four gospels together, "the diatessaron" (through the four). some

Christians say that the contradictions mean that it's the Holy Spirit telling you to look for

the deeper meaning because the surface meaning doesn't work. THE REALITY IS THAT

THERE MOST CHRISTIANS NEVER REALIZE THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENCES.most people in

the early church couldn't read (best study of literacy in the ancient world: William Harris:

Ancient Literacy, Harvard Literacy Press. doesn't deal too much with Christianity).

radical Bible information? 2nd council of Constantinople in 555ad. major bible deletions.

took out everything Jesus said about reincarnation.

2nd council info is false. i read it in The Jesus Mystery by Janet Bark. how are they wrongand you're right? authority. responsible and irresponsible historians.

who to trust? look at credentials. where do they teach. do they have degrees? independent

researchers. look at their footnotes. reputable institutions. whose books go through vetting

process.

18 years missing from the bible. age of 12 to the age of 30. travelling through india.

probably grew up in Nazareth. no ancient sources mention Jesus going to India.

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most of what is written from 30 years to 60 years later after Christ's death in Greek or in

Latin. Jesus spoke Aramaic. what's missing between what was said and the codices

trying to decode what he said?

Jesus spoke Aramaic, didn't spoke Greek or Latin. NT Greek and Latin. Gospels written


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in Greek 30 or 40 years later. Mark 2, Sabbath was made for man not made for Sabbath

therefore, the son of man is the lord of the sabbath. in Aramaic, the word of man

(human being) and son of man is the same word: barna shah.

John 3:3, a person must be born "onothen" to enter the kingdom of heaven. it can mean

from above or a second time, depending on the context. Nicodemus thinks it meansborn again. the double entendre only comes in the Greek, not the Aramaic. not Hebrew

either. Jesus probably read Hebrew but spoke Aramaic, the language in Palestine at his

time. (FABRICATION)

how would you compare the copyists of the Sopharim with those of the early Christians

(those of Ezra's times)? Jewish scibes of the middle ages (Nazarenes).

Massaredes (meticulous Jewish copying practices).

oral traditions in Christianity?

in oral cultures, preserving exactly isn't necessary the goal. discrepancies both orally

and at the written stage

Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman

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